


Ronan Doesn’t Get Run Over By A Reindeer

by SubtextEquals



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 05:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13093839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SubtextEquals/pseuds/SubtextEquals
Summary: ...Just Blue Sargent. Adam doesn’t help as much as he could. A story of family, psychics, and a Christmas scrabble game.





	Ronan Doesn’t Get Run Over By A Reindeer

**Author's Note:**

> Written for lio-zehel for The Raven Cycle Gift Exchange.
> 
> Less Christmas centric and more Let's Indulge Ronan centric.

Blue’s drive home had not been smooth. The Blue Ridge had been lovely until a major accident blocked her path and the wait had been unbearable without Gansey and Henry to keep her company. Her only comfort was that the nonexistent engine didn’t spew gas into the air as her car idled.

Once back, driving through the familiar streets in Henrietta, she knew that she’d missed it, but her mind kept going back to what she’d experienced with Gansey. And Henry, him too, but mostly Gansey. They promised to meet up again after the holidays since neither of them were comfortable giving up the time with their family, but that wasn’t reassuring now.

Then she pulled into her driveway. 300 Fox Way. Home. It no longer mattered that her hair was tangled and her skin sticky from the trip. Finally, she could--

The front door nearly came apart at the seams as Ronan Lynch flung it open. He was almost grinning. No, he _was_ grinning. That was, in fact, a grin on Ronan’s face. Not nasty. Not taunting. A genuine, honest to God grin that dropped from his face immediately once he saw her. He yelled something.

Blue opened the car door. “What?” she yelled back though it was no longer necessary.

“I said…” Ronan cupped his hands around his mouth. “You fucked up the car already!”

“How did you even notice--” Blue huffed, knowing the question was pointless. Ronan made the car. Maybe he felt a dent in his soul. “It’s my car!”

“Fucked. Up.” Ronan repeated. He slammed one fist into his palm and made crashing sound. “I’m going to have to get you dream paint now.”

“My car is fine.” Blue closed the door forcefully. “Where’s Mom?”

Ronan shrugged. “Dealing with Orla. Or something. You told us you were running late.”

“I am late.” Blue went around to the backseat and grabbed a bag. When she turned back, Ronan greeted her with a raised eyebrow, one that had probably been waiting just for her. She narrowed her eyes. “Who were you expecting?”

That look on Ronan’s face was really getting annoying. Like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world and she was too stupid to-- oh.

“ _Adam?_ Why is Adam coming here?”

“What, is he banned from your home and no one told me?”

“Maybe they should ban someone else.” She dragged a suitcase out of the car. “Mom told me they watched Opal,” _and you,_ she did not add. “She didn’t tell me you moved in.”

Ronan walked over to her. “God, you are being such a--” He reached for the suitcase. Blue jerked it away.

They glared at each other. Ronan took the lighter bag and slung it over his shoulder. Blue stuck out her tongue.

“Seriously, Sargent. And you call me immature?”

Blue headed for her home “I call you a lot of things.”

“You and the world.”

Ronan’s last words were drowned out by her mother calling “Blue!”

Had she not seen her mother for months, Blue might have felt a mild embarrassment at how fast her mom had her wrapped in her arms. But she didn’t care what Ronan thought. She hugged her mom back just as tightly.

Maura finally pulled back. “You should have called.”

“I thought you’d already know.”

“I diiiiiid.” Gwenllian’s sing song voice was unmistakable. She swayed behind the now open front door. “Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the dreamer carries things for you.”

“How do you keep sucking more every time you open your mouth?” Ronan asked. He promptly carried the bag into the house.

“You, dreamer, wish you could sing.”

The door closed, muffling whatever Ronan said in return.

Blue gave her mom a pointed look.

“They haven’t killed each other yet. Go inside. Everyone wants to talk to you.”

Blue hugged her mother again before grabbing her suitcase. “Did Ronan move in?”

“Oh, we didn’t give him your room.” Maura smiled. She tried to extricate the suitcase from her daughter’s hand but Blue only tightened her grip.

“ _Mom._ ”

“He’s not officially allowed to live at his home, so we let him stay here sometimes.”

Halfway to the door, Blue stopped. “You let him live here?”

“He’s usually not here. He promised to stay out of your hair.” As if to punctuate that statement, Maura brushed a lock of Blue’s hair behind her ear.

Blue realized her mouth was open and shut it. For a moment. “This is like voluntary? For everyone?”

Her mother smiled. “Mostly.”

Blue took a moment to picture all of their reactions. This was probably her mother’s idea to begin with, so she would have brought him. Orla would have been disappointed not that Ronan was taken but that he was gay. Gwenllian would have done whatever it was she was doing now. And Calla would have let Ronan know how unwelcome he was, which didn’t matter as Maura had already overruled her.

“It’s not that bad, Blue.” There was that firm motherly tone that Blue had missed.

“He said that Adam’s coming?”

“Only for a few--”

They heard the car first. It’d been a while since Blue had seen Adam’s old, recycled mess of a vehicle, so she couldn’t remember if it looked worse than before or if she’d been more charitable in her memory.

“Don’t say days,” she said quickly.

“Hours.”

Even with the incoming fumes, Blue breathed easier.

The car stopped. Adam hesitated before getting out. “Hello Blue, Ms. Sargent.” The accent was no longer as pronounced but he spoke slowly and glanced cautiously between the two of them.

Oh, this was stupid.

Blue let go of her suitcase, walked over to Adam, and hugged him. “Welcome back.” She didn’t stay long enough to feel him let out a sigh of relief, but she heard it as she stepped back.

“You too. Is Ronan--”

For the second time that day, at least that Blue had seen, the door to the house flung open.

“Do you know how late you are?” Ronan called. He soon passed the Sargents. “Blue got here before you. She’s not even supposed to be here!”

“I live here!” Blue reached for her luggage again only to find her mom had taken it while she was focused on Ronan.

“Please excuse Ronan.” Adam ostensibly addressed her, but his eyes were still on Ronan’s. “You know how traumatic waiting is for him.”

Maura smiled at her. “Let’s go.”

“You know what, Parrish?” Finally, he’d reached Adam and at that point he threw his arms around him. “You’re damn right and now you’re making it up to me.” 

As Blue turned she saw Adam’s arms loop around Ronan’s waist. Smiling, she joined her family in the house.

 

Over an hour later, the Fox Way household had almost finished grilling each other enough to take a break for dinner. Blue told them about her trip (and no, that’s not your business), and showed them her pictures (and I told you, that’s not your business), and that she’d missed them, (and stop asking about Gansey!). They told her about what had happened while she was gone. Maura hadn’t taken up any hobbies while Blue was gone, but only because Opal was there more. Calla had done her best to keep her mother away from men. They’d managed to convince Gwenllian not to kill a man. Speaking of, her father was still in the closet.

“Who’s going to call those raven boys inside?” Calla asked.

Orla got up right away.

Blue stared at her. “Uh, you know Ronan’s gay right?”

“And great eye candy,” Orla said cheerily.

Blue looked at her mother as if to say ‘is she for real?’

Maura shrugged.

Orla was walking to the door when Blue yelled after her. “Don’t harass my friends!”

“Blue!” Calla said sharply. “She doesn’t harass them. Ronan would be clueless even if she did.”

The door opened as she spoke that last sentence. Ronan led Adam into the house, holding his hand. Adam started to pull away at the sight of them but then stopped. Blue thought he might have squeezed Ronan’s hand harder.

“Clueless about what?” Ronan asked.

“Everything.” Orla sighed and went to the kitchen.

Ronan turned to Adam. “You see what I mean?”

Adam shook his head as if to say ‘is he for real?’ Then he had to step aside as Opal brushed past him.

“Blue. Welcome back.” She held something out for her.

“Is this a doll?” Blue grabbed the stick figure. Several leaves hung off of it, held together by some kind of sticky material she assumed was sap.

“It’s you.” Opal windmilled into the kitchen.

For a moment, Blue just stared at her effigy. Since this was Opal, she took the gift as a nice gesture. Now, if it were from Ronan...

“Oh Jesus, Blue. It’s a spitting image-- hey!” Ronan swatted Adam’s elbow away from his rib.

Blue ignored him and called to Opal. “Thank you!” There was no response. “What’s she doing?”

There came a clatter from the kitchen and Orla said “Opal!”

“Cooking,” Ronan and Maura said at once.

“I’ll keep her away from the knives,” Maura continued. She turned to the three friends. “Any special requests?”

“Goat.” Ronan had ample time to block Adam’s intentionally slow swat. He grabbed his hand and wrestled him onto the couch.

Blue stared, unsure if she should be pleased or horrified that Ronan was so at ease in her home. They only continued to wrestle. While they’d been together for months before she left, she hadn’t seen any, well, _intimate_ interactions until now. It was like glimpsing the courting ritual of a strange species. She was seized with a sudden, immense gratitude that she was dating Gansey and not someone who would call her things like--

“Get off, you ass.” Adam laughed.

“Hey, watch your fucking mouth when the kid’s in the house.”

So very, very grateful. Blue cleared her throat just as Adam said “Blue’s here” and gave one final shove to get Ronan to stop the rough housing.

Blue folded her arms over her chest. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave your testosterone at the door.”

“Too late, Sargent. I’ve marked the place.” Ronan slung his arm over Adam’s shoulders. “You gonna sit down or what?”

Blue had been about to do just that but she had to keep standing now. “You can’t order me around in my home.”

“Technically, it’s--”

Adam nudged Ronan’s leg. “Ronan, weren’t you going to ask Blue how Gansey is?”

“Ask me? You couldn’t ask him the hundred-- no wait-- thousand times you talked to him?”

Now that Adam had thrown Ronan a new bone to fight over, Blue took a seat across from them. This was going to take some getting used to.

 

The argument over whether or not Adam should drive to the Barn’s in his car or ride with Ronan was short lived but only due to Blue’s intervention. One sharp comment on how she wasn’t letting her driveway be taken over and the fight shifted from Adam to Ronan to Blue to Ronan. Adam took the opportunity to slide into his car. Too late, Ronan realized he’d been played. Adam smiled and waved him goodbye. In the seat next to him, Opal waved as well.

Ronan yelled something that sounded like a muffled “you’re gonna kill her in that piece of shit!” Knowing Ronan, that was permission.

It didn’t take long for Adam to see the charcoal BMW in his rearview mirror. Ronan slammed on the horn just to make sure he noticed.

Opal twisted around and waved again before slumping back against the seat. She fiddled with her seatbelt.

“I know it’s not comfortable, but you need to wear it,” Adam said.

Opal played with the metal buckle. “Everyone says that. Why?”

Adam paused to consider how to explain car accidents to her without scaring her, then he remembered she came out of Ronan’s head. If it was normal, she wasn’t afraid. That was a danger in itself.

“Sometimes, when you’re driving, accidents happen. One of the tires could go flat and I might lose control. A deer could run into the road and I’d hit it or another car could run into this one.” He glanced in the rearview mirror when he said that although Ronan wasn’t there to appreciate the remark.

“Oh.” Opal considered this for a few moments. “Would the deer die?”

“Probably.”

“Would I die?” she asked.

“Probably not.”

This seemed to satisfy her and she stopped playing with her seatbelt. Instead she leaned forward and fiddled with the car stereo.

Adam reached for her hand. “Wait--”

_Squash one. Squash t--_

Adam turned the stereo off and focused on the road again instead of how hot his face felt. “I forgot to take that out. Ronan put it in there to annoy me.”

In his peripheral vision, he saw Opal staring at him with her large eyes.

Yeah, he didn’t think she’d buy it.

“What have I missed?” he asked quickly.

She kept staring at him. “Ronan.”

Adam sighed and reached over to turn on the stereo. “Yeah, and I missed you, too.”

Opal touched his hand. “He’s happy you’re back.”

Adam glanced over at her. Objectively, she didn’t look like Ronan, but every time he looked at her he saw a distorted reflection of him. Twisted, but not unpleasantly so. “Has he ever been this excited while I was gone?”

Opal tapped his wrist and then leaned back.

Adam returned his hand to the steering wheel. It wasn’t until after the murder squash song reached its annoying end that Opal spoke again.

“Are you happy you’re back?” Her voice was quiet but not soft.

They weren’t out of Henrietta yet, but they were close. Adam looked in the rearview mirror again. Ronan had somehow managed to stick to the speed limit. Judging by the way his hand rapped against the driver side window, the found this an almost unbearable sacrifice.

Adam smiled. “Yeah.”

 

Ronan Lynch had been blessed and cursed with several surprises today. The best of all was this one moment, pulling into the driveway of the Barns. It was past eight by now. The clouds obscured all but a sliver of moonlight. The only way Ronan could see was from the headlights of the two cars and the lights from a thousand swirling orbs overhead, flickering in and out like fireflies.

The car vibrated beneath his feet. The bass of the electronic music blended with the hum of a dream car. It was deep and sexy and, the moment Adam stopped his car and went to coax Opal out of her seat, it was all comfortable and so, so achingly familiar. He hadn’t expected this feeling. He should have.

He parked his BMW behind the Hondoyota. His hand rested on the shift. He watched as Adam finally got Opal out by letting her wrap her arms around his shoulder. She was not a small girl and he strained under her weight but lifted her out. Ronan paused, needing a long moment to appreciate this kind of magic. His patience lasted half a second, after that he forgot about the long moment and opened his car door.

“Opal, you’re gonna break his neck.”

Opal looked at him and without warning pulled her arms away from Adam’s neck. She was now held upright by Adam’s arms alone. He stumbled at the sudden shift in weight and quickly lowered her onto the ground.

Opal spoke in Latin.

Ronan kicked the ground once as he walked over. “Deer? What? Yes, the deer are fine. What kind of question is that? Ask in English next time.” By this point Ronan had reached them. He stared down at Opal, who stretched out her arms for him to carry her. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her in the direction of the house.

Opal refused to move. “Are the deer—“

“I didn’t mean now.”

“Have you ever hit someone with your car?” Opal asked.

Ronan looked up at his boyfriend. “Jesus, Adam. What were you talking about?”

Adam shrugged. “She was messing with her seatbelt.”

“Christ,” Ronan muttered. He nudged Opal. “Go inside and you can have cereal.”

“The box?” Opal asked hopefully.

“No, not the box. Just cause Adam’s back doesn’t mean you can act like a brat. Go.”

This time Opal said something in the strange language Ronan only understood in his dreams. She stomped off.

When Ronan turned back, he saw Adam smiling. “What?”

“Nothing.” Adam opened the rear door to get his bag.

“You’re not gonna hide in Matthew’s room all day this time, right?” Ronan didn’t bother trying to take Adam’s bag from him. He only offered his hand for Adam to take.

“I told you I had papers due a week after break.” Adam slid his hand into Ronan’s and they headed home. “They rarely give you homework before the semester starts.”

“So no textbooks?”

Adam shook his head.

Ronan stepped up onto the porch. “Good.” He reached for the door but stopped when he heard Adam’s bag drop.

“Adam?”

Adam touched his neck. When Ronan turned, he leaned in. Ronan wrapped his arm around Adam’s waist to pull him closer. The first time they kissed here, it had been frantic. Now these kisses were slower, both of them savoring the reunion, but they were just as greedy.

Ronan changed his mind. This was the best surprise of the day.

 

Adam had hoped to avoid another Lynch family dinner disaster. Thanksgiving had been difficult enough. No one knew how to cook a turkey and the only successful dish had been mashed potatoes. Opal wouldn’t sit still, which distracted Matthew. Without their brother to calm them, Ronan and Declan fought. Adam spent the time on the edge of his seat, ready to intervene if they came to blows.

By the look of it, things had not improved and it wasn’t even Christmas yet. It was four days before Christmas, to be precise, and a few hours after Declan arrived with Matthew and takeout.

They went through the standard pleasantries. Ronan asked how Matthew was doing, Declan asked what Opal had learned, and Ronan brought up how great Adam was doing in college when it was clear that Declan didn’t care. Once they settled, the eldest Lynch brother dropped the bombshell.

“I’m spending this Christmas with Ashley’s family.”

Ronan devoured a strip of chicken. “Who?” 

“Ashley,” Declan repeated more firmly. “We’ve been together for two years.”

“Does she know you’re cheating on her?” And in went another chicken strip.

Declan placed his hands on the table. “Ronan,” he said evenly. “You haven’t visited me in over a year.”

“Yeah, I still know you’re cheating on her. It’s obvious. Hey, Matthew.” He turned to his dream of a brother. “Is it obvious?”

Matthew looked at his brothers, eyes going as wide as Opal’s. He suddenly shoved two chicken strips into his mouth and mumbled something that was either “I dunno” or “mm mmffff.” Adam shouldn’t have been surprised that he came from Ronan’s head.

Ronan sneered at Declan. “It’s obvious.”

“I was going to ask if you would come, but if you’re going to act like--”

“Answer’s no.”

“No?” Matthew had conveniently swallowed his chicken at just that time. “But what about--”

Ronan patted his brother’s head in a way that would be condescending if it were between anyone but him and Matthew. “We’ll do Christmas Mass together.”

“We’ll be in D.C. for Christmas,” Declan said.

Ronan’s pressed his hands to the table. The two brothers mirrored each other in both their looks and their blazing eyes.

“Declan,” Ronan hissed.

Matthew offered Adam chicken. Adam shoved it in his mouth.

 

The night ended with Ronan, Matthew, and Opal on the floor playing monopoly. Ronan dropped his thimble into jail. Adam watched from the couch, noting the way Ronan’s brow furrowed and that his mouth kept starting to form a frown before he caught it.

“Opal, you don’t eat the car.” Matthew pulled the item from Opal’s hand.

Something made Adam look away and he spotted Declan standing in the kitchen doorway, watching him. He stood up and joined him. The other three were either too engaged in their game or too busy sulking to notice.

“What?” Adam asked when they had moved out of sight.

Leaning against the wall, Declan looked very much like Ronan. Superficially, the details were different, but it was they way they carried themselves. They both had a purpose to every gesture or stance, whether to intimidate or impress, and both managed to make it appear natural. 

“Take him to Mass, alright?”

That was it? Declan had called him here for that?

“I don’t take Ronan anywhere,” Adam said shortly.

“Don’t be such a--”

“Of course, I’m going with him to Christmas Mass.” Adam cut him off. “But you could drive for all of two hours to join him. It’s your tradition.”

“I made a commitment.”

“Taking Matthew away won’t make him move to D.C. with you,” Adam watched as Declan’s eyes narrowed and he knew he’d struck home. “He made it half a year without you or Gansey. He doesn’t need you to protect him.”

Declan’s eyes turned sharp. He studied Adam for a moment. “I forgot what he saw in you. Thank you for reminding me.” Declan pushed himself away from the wall. “Merry Christmas.”

 

Blue never realized that Catholics had such long services. She’d spent the morning showing Opal her old toys. That lasted for all of five minutes before Opal asked if they had a monopoly board. They didn’t, so they ended up on the living room floor playing scrabble while Blue pretended she knew the Latin words Opal spelled. She thought they were Latin, anyway.

It felt like it’d been hours since Ronan and Adam dropped her off here and she was running out of patience. Blue was too old to be excited for presents and it wasn’t like she had very many. Actually, only one. But… well, she was excited.

Orla walked past them. “Blue, your father is hiding in your tree again.”

Blue groaned. She pressed her head to the floor. “Why?”

“Death, death, death,” Gwenllian sang from another room. “He stepped inside and saw his death.”

This was, without a doubt, her creepiest addition to any conversation.

“Ignore her,” Orla said. “He saw the Christmas tree.”

“He saw the--” Blue looked over her shoulder at their tree. Once Adam asked if they were having a Christmas celebration and said that Ronan’s brothers wouldn’t be here, Maura had not only taken this hint but run with it all the way to the store. She came back with a lovely tree for the house.

Blue stared at it, blinked, and stared at it again. It remained the same as ever. One foot tall, sparkly, and plastic.

“It’s not even real!” she yelled.

“Maybe it wants to be.” Opal arranged her tiles on the board. “Have you asked?”

“It’s not that kind of tree.” Blue looked at Opal’s word.

_Kerah._

Blue pressed her head to the floor again.

Ronan-- because only Ronan had that distinctive knock-- rapped on the door once before opening it. “Hey, did Opal eat her foot?”

“Ronan!” Opal jumped up and ran over to her two favorite men. She immediately wrapped her arms around Adam’s legs.

Blue stood. “What’s with her sudden interest in board games?”

“Ask Matthew,” Adam replied. He unwound Opal from his legs.

“I have a question, too.” Calla stepped into the room. She held a thick book. The cover reminded Blue of Cabeswater, dark and beautiful and forbidden. The title was only one word “Tarot.”

“Yeah?” Ronan walked over to the tree in the corner. He poked one of its plastic branches and a few sparkles fell onto the table it stood on.

“Why is this full of Christian imagery?” Calla opened the book.

Blue didn’t recognize which saint it was, but the Page of Cups had a halo around her head and looked suspiciously like Blue herself only as painted by a Renaissance artist.

“I don’t know. Ask my dreams.”

“ _You are your dreams._ ”

Ronan looked over at her and smiled like a snake.

Calla smirked at him. “Do you realize who you dreamed of as the lovers? Interesting choice for Adam and Eve.” She looked at Adam Parrish.

Ronan turned white, then green, then jumped across the color spectrum all the way to pink.

“Calla.” Maura breezed into the room and took the book from her friend’s hands. “I liked it. Did you know the Page of Cups is Blue’s card?”

Ronan’s brow furrowed ever so slightly. “Her card?”

“Oh,” Maura tucked the book under her arm. “Interesting. How was your service?”

“Alright,” Ronan said.

Maura looked at Adam.

“Long,” was his answer.

“Well, come here, lovers. There are a still a few presents to unwrap.” She paused, then made a face.

“Mom,” Blue groaned. “Please don’t ever speak again.”

Orla ducked her head inside. “Oh, please. We’re all adults and those two are so not innocent...” She looked at Adam and Ronan, who both blushed. “Or maybe they are. Nevermind. Oh, this is ruining some of my fan--”

“ORLA!” Blue, Calla, and Maura yelled at once.

“I’m calling my boyfriend.” With that, Orla disappeared.

The silence that followed was too long for comfort.

“Gansey says hi,” Blue blurted. “He was going to call but I reminded him you were at Mass.”

“Oh.” Ronan’s ears were still pink. “We’ll call him later.”

Blue exchanged a look with Adam, hers one of skepticism at Ronan using a phone, his neutral and accompanied by a shrug. Suddenly Blue remembered that he was at least half of the reason Ronan used a phone.

“Right. So, uh. What do you do for this Christmas thing? Do we have to get the whole family here? Because Jimi is doing a phone reading right now.”

Ronan looked aghast. “Jesus Mary, Blue. You’ve never celebrated Christmas?”

Adam nudged him.

“Ronan,” Maura said gently.

Ronan groaned. “God. That’s why you opened your present early.”

“Oh no,” Calla said. “We all know how Christmas works just fine. I wanted to know what you gave us.”

“She was afraid it might explode,” Maura added.

“My heart’s bleeding.” Ronan picked up Blue’s gift from under the Christmas tree. Well, from under the table that the Christmas tree sat on. He tossed it to its intended recipient.

Blue eyed it warily before unwrapping it. She pulled the lid off the box, revealing a notebook with “Feminist Agenda” blazed in pink across the cover. Several pens rattled around and she saw that they had similar phrases on them. So, she noticed once she picked up the first notebook, did the other books beneath it.

“Gansey said you wanted to join the darkside and get a degree.”

Blue looked at him standing in front of her. He might be acting snide, but having known Ronan for this long, she could tell when he was being genuine. Mostly. “Can you give a gift without insulting someone or is it physically impossible?”

Ronan gestured to Adam with his thumb. “Ask him.”

Adam vigorously shook his head. “No, don’t ask me.”

Opal, who had gone back to hugging Adam’s legs, smelled his hand.

He tried to shake her off. “Opal, please.”

“It’s more practical than I expected,” Maura said. She looked meaningfully at Blue.

“Uh. Yeah. Thanks.” Blue looked for Calla’s reaction only to find she’d disappeared. “So is there anything else we do?”

“Nah, not really.” Ronan pulled Opal away from Adam, picked her up, and set her down on the couch. He took a seat beside her. He did it so casually that it struck Blue how many times it must have already happened.

“I’ll have to give you both gifts later. I don’t have anything now.” Blue went to put her present away and dispose of the wrapping paper.

Opal sprang forward and tried to eat the bow. Adam intercepted her, took the bow out of her hands, and placed it on her head.

“It’s alright,” he said to Blue. “You don’t have to. You know how Ronan is with gifts.”

Ronan stared indignantly at his boyfriend, cheeks once more verging on pink. 

“Ah, Calla,” her mother said. “You found it.”

At that everyone, dream-child included, turned to look at Calla. She’d returned with a box smudged with dust, likely the result of a last minute cleaning. Blue hadn’t seen Calla nervous often, but she saw the hesitation in her eyes as she looked at Adam.

“Persephone left this.”

Pain welled inside Blue, both at the loss of Persephone and the fact that Calla and her mother had kept this from her. The latter wasn’t as surprising as she wished.

Calla held out the gift. As Blue was closest to her, she took it.

There was no wrapping paper but the card on it was labeled “For Adam and Ronan” and today’s date. It, along with the “Merry Christmas,” was in Persephone’s handwriting.

Blue stared at it for a while, waiting for her brain to catch up and provide her with an answer. When it didn’t, she held it out for Adam. “It’s for both of you.”

At that, Ronan stood. “What do you mean both of us?”

Adam didn’t move. He had also been transfixed by Persephone’s final message for him.

“Mom, what’s in it?”

Maura and Calla exchanged glances.

“We thought they should be the ones to open it,” Maura said. Calla nodded her approval.

“Right. Adam I get,” Ronan said sharply. “But how the hell would she know about me?” Before any of the them could respond he added, “you told me psychics didn’t do specifics.”

“Usually.” Calla’s voice was as sharp as Ronan’s but this time they didn’t square off. “Not that it matters. It didn’t take a psychic to see you two together.”

Adam sat on the floor so he could pry the box open. Ronan focused on him again, standing and looking down, while Blue compromised and rested on her knees. She leaned over as Adam pulled the top apart.

Blue only saw clearly for a few seconds, then her eyes began to blur. She laughed. “I don’t believe it.”

Adam removed one garment from the box. It could only be accurately identified once he stretched it out.

“A sweater?” Ronan sounded more baffled than accusing. “Is that a sweater?”

Adam pulled out a second one, and then what looked like a scarf for a child. They were all horribly mismatched with different clothes sewn together. They were the most atrocious Christmas sweaters Blue had seen and also the best.

“Why would--” Ronan stopped. “Oh.”

Adam placed one of the sweaters on his lap. Ronan reached out, hesitated, then took the other. He bent down and picked up the scarf. Without a word, he wrapped it around Opal’s shoulders.

Blue couldn’t bear another moment of silence. “That makes it official, doesn’t it?” she asked, looking at her mother and Calla.

“It already was,” her mother said.

“Persephone didn’t need to tell us that,” Calla added.

When she looked back at Adam, still silent, still staring at the sweater, still running his thumb over it, she didn’t agree. Persephone needed to tell someone that. She glanced at Ronan and corrected herself: two someones.

“Adam?” Ronan knelt beside his boyfriend and put his arm around his shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Adam didn’t look up. “It’s just that no one…”

Ronan leaned in closer to Adam and said something in a hushed tone. His hand went to the back of his neck. Blue turned away and saw that her mother and Calla had also found something else in the room suddenly interesting.

Opal drifted over to Ronan and Adam and wrapped the scarf around both of their shoulders, tying them together. “Merry Christmas.” She walked back to the scrabble board and looked at Blue expectantly.

Blue sat across from her. “Uh, can you guys translate? I want to make sure she’s not cheating?”

Adam unwound the scarf. “Sure.”

Ronan scoffed. “Opal, why are you such a weirdo?”

Adam coughed and dragged Ronan over to the game. Ronan pressed one finger to the “K” in “Kerah” and dragged it away. He didn’t let go of Adam’s hand.

Opal placed another word down. Blue didn’t need a translation.

Ronan supplied it anyway. “Family.”

 

Before Adam drove home, he’d rolled down the window. Ronan had taken his hand, leaned in to kiss him, and told him to have fun. He told him “I love you.” That was fifteen minutes ago and Ronan’s hand still felt cold from the absence of Adam palm over his own.

Ronan stretched his arms and craned his neck, listening for Opal. She’d wandered off immediately after Adam left. If she wanted to explore, Ronan wouldn’t get in the way, as long as Chainsaw accompanied her. God, what a family they all were.

He saw the car before he heard it. His first thought was the Pig before remembering Gansey had been delayed. He promised to visit Adam at college later and then promised Ronan he’d be back in a few days. It looked like Blue was here now.

He stepped down from the porch and walked over to the driveway. He folded his arms over his chest. Blue honked the horn at him, parked, and stepped out.

“Sargent.”

Blue closed the car door. “Adam left?”

“You just missed him.”

“Damn.” She walked over to Ronan.

“‘Damn,’ Sargent? Have I been a bad influence?” Ronan’s teeth flashed as he smiled.

Blue rolled her eyes. “Don’t get full of yourself. If you were, I’d say ‘fuck.’”

Ronan’s smile widened. “Oh, you would? Like just now?”

Blue planted one of her hands on her hip and tilted her head at Ronan. “Are you going to invite me inside yet?”

Ronan swept his hand toward the door. “Ladies first.” Despite what he said, they trudged along side by side. Ronan looked over at his friend. He stretched out his hand and placed it on her hair, smoothing it down. When Blue swatted him away, it stuck up more than ever.

“You’re a God damn mess, Blue. We’ve gotta do something about that.”

“I’m not shaving my hair.”

“Coward. It’s unlocked,” he added the last part as they reached the door, just the two of them, when Blue had only dropped by to say a last minute goodbye to Adam. “You don’t have to stay just so it won’t be weird.”

Blue didn’t hold the door open for him. She looked over her shoulder. “Weird? I’m a mirror, my boyfriend has a magical forest that you made inside him, and my family has Orla in it. I thought we were on the same page when it came to what ‘weird’ is.”

Ronan closed the door behind them. “Normal is weird. Sound right?”

Blue nodded. “Yeah. Oh, Mom said to put on Mulan for Opal.”

Ronan made a face at her. What did she think? He had the entire Disney collection ready to watch whenever? “I don’t know where Mulan is.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. We watched like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, and even Pocahontas but I can’t find--”

Blue’s nose crinkled as she fought back a laugh.

Ronan turned around and opened the door once more. He pointed toward the driveway. “Shut up or get the fuck out.”

That threatened laugh turned into real giggles. “Ronan, that’s--”

Ronan pointed ever more insistently. His face was overly stern and he knew Blue didn’t buy it for a moment.

Blue didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she said “I think we have Mulan at home.”

Ronan let the door slide shut. “Cool. We’ll go grab Opal.” He grabbed Blue’s hand just long enough to pull her in the direction of the living room. “Help me hide the board games first.”

Later, Ronan buckled Opal into the car (“please don’t hit a deer, Roan”), then slid into the driver’s seat. After he started the engine, he looked over at the Barns. The first home he’d had stood empty for now. In a few days, he’d come back. In a few months, so would Adam.

Chainsaw hopped onto his shoulder, bit his shirt, then took off and landed on Opal’s lap.

“Hey--” Ronan started.

Blue honked her horn. She rolled down her window and gave him the finger. Ronan returned the gesture. Taking the hint, he shifted out of park and pressed his foot down on the gas pedal.

“Let’s go--”

“Home,” Opal said.

“Sure thing,” Ronan said and followed Blue to 300 Fox Way.

Their drive home was smooth.


End file.
